Bho Shambho Shiva Shambho (Bho Shambo) Bho Shambo Siva Shambho is a beautiful Lord Shiva devotional song composed by Sri Swami Dayananda Saraswati( who attained Samadhi on Wed 23 Sept 2015 night at this Rishikesh Ashram ) in Revathi Raaga and Adi Taala. The exact date on which he composed this song is not known but it was composed on the Banks of Mother Ganga where his present Ashram is situated and that has a very beautiful view of the Ganges flowing .

Swami Dayananda attained Samadhi on Wed 23 Sept night at 10.15 pm by the Banks of Ganga in his Ashram in Rishikesh . Though he does not belong to any Shankarachara Order , he did an extraordinary work in preserving and giving more clarity and freshness to Adi Shankara's works - especially his commnetaries on the Bhagvad Gita , the Upanishads and the Brahmasutras and in honor of the same Sringeri Achraya Sri Bharati Teertha Mahaswamigal gave the first Adi Shankarcharya award of the Peetham to Swami Dayananda Saraswati who has strived for hoisting the flag of Advaita Vedanta and keeping the teaching tradition alive . I am sharing this Totaka Ashtakam as a tribute to Swami Dayananda on his Samadhi .

Totka Ashtakam

Totka Ashtakam eight verses composed in honor of Adi ShankarAchArya by one of his chief disciple Sri Totaka Achraya .

The hymn is so called because it has been composed in the difficult but beautiful meter called toTaka.There is an interesting history associated with this stotra . Anandagiriwas one of the less scholarly disciples living with Shankara at Sringeri.But Giri, as he was called, was extremely devoted to the AchArya . Giriwould always engage himself in the service of his Guru . Once it sohappened that Shankara was about to begin his usual morning discourseon the upanishads and the other disciples started reciting the shAntipATha . But Giri was absent because he had gone to the river to wash hisGuru's clothes . So Shankara asked the other disciples to wait for Giri'sreturn . But PadmapAda, who was obviously proud of his erudition, said,``Giri is a dull fellow . He really does not deserve to learn the shAstras.What is the point in waiting for him to join us?''Shankara decided to humble the pride of PadmapAda and other disciples.Out of sheer compassion for Giri, the AchArya blessed him with theknowledge of the shAstras, making use of supernatural powers to do so.As a result, Giri became a learned scholar instantaneously . Returningfrom the river, he composed the toTakAShTaka, eight verses in praiseof his Guru . The other disciples were struck with wonder to hear himextemporaneously compose the aShTaka in the difficult meter . Giri alsocomposed another work, again in the toTaka meter, called theShrutisArasamuddharaNa . Due to the grace of the Guru, Giri becamea knower of all scriptures, and he earned the respect of PadmapAda andother disciples . He came to be known as toTakAchArya, because he wasan adept in composing verses in the toTaka meter . He became one of Shankara'sfour most important disciples, and was later entrusted with running theJyotirmaTh at BadriNath .

Here is MS Subbhalakshmi's Devotional Rendering of the same and below it is given the Transliteration and Translation of the same

Save me whose heart is afflicted by the misery of the ocean of births,O (You who are) the ocean of compassion! (By Your grace) make me theknower of the truths of all the systems of philosophy . O Preceptor Shankara,be my refuge.

O Best among the Gurus! The Lord whose flag bears the emblem of thebull! You have no equal among the wise . You who are affectionate to thosewho seek refuge! The treasure of truth! O Preceptor Shankara, be my refuge.

I have neither understood even one branch of knowledge clearly, nor do Ipossess any wealth, O Guru . Quickly bestow on me the compassion which isnatural to You . O Preceptor Shankara, be my refuge.http://www.cco.caltech.edu/~vidya/advaita/advaitatml

Got the news earlier from my brother who is right now in Swami Dayananda Ashram in USA . Swamiji was not in good health for the last few weeks and was mentally preparing all his devotees and students for this final end by giving darshan to all in spite of his illhealth . Swamiji wanted to be by the side of Mother Ganga in his last days and it did happen as per his wish . I have been immensley benefitted by the Talks and Books of Swami Dayananda ( talks I have attended little but read most of his books which are Transcript of his talks ) and they have given me lot of clarity not just on Advaita Vedanta but also on Sanathana Dharma and the role of Tradition . If today I am able to understand Bhagavan Ramana's teachings better it is due to the clarity I got through the excellent and clear interpretations of the Bhagavad Gita & Other Vedanta Texts through the teachings of Swami Dayananda and also through his close disciple Swami Paramarthananda who is my Vedanta Teacher and the best being his explanations of Bhagavan Ramana's Upadesa Saram . Ever grateful to Swami Dayananda for helping me get more clarity with regard to not only Advaita Vedanta but also about Sanathana Dharma and though he may no longer be in the body but his teachings are very much alive through his publications and also through some of his excellent disciples ( like Swami Paramarthananda , Swami Guruparananda , Swami Omkarananda etc etc ) who are great teachers themselves and this teaching tradition will continue .

A Russian Scientist?s experience with Kanchi Maha Periava Many years ago, some Russian scholars had come to Chennai for a research on Hindu culture. Maha Swami was then camping at Mylapore and so they had darshan of Him and took many photographs of Him. They gave the photographs to the Russian Ancient Culture Academy in Russia also.

In 1987, Russia held a festival of Indian Culture in the Soviet Cultural Academy in Chennai. Dr.Padma Subramanyam (PS) gave a lecture on Bharatham, Kutchipidi, etc. Then, she was invited to Russia, where she met Prof.Ribakov, who was the chief of Russian Scientific Academy and Russian Ancient Culture Institute.

She was surprised to see a portrait of Maha Periava in his room. When asked, he said it was given by a friend who had visited Him in Chennai and he also wanted to meet Him and clarify a few doubts. Subsequently, he came to Chennai and Dr.PS accompanied him to Kanchipuram. But, Maha Swami was down with fever and the sishyas said they cannot meet Him. They were disappointed and didn't know what to do.

Just then another sishya came to them and said that Periava asked them to come in. They went in, and Prof.Ribakov and Periava kept looking at each other for a while. Then, Dr.PS asked the Prof to clarify his doubts. But the Prof said that all his doubts have already been clarified.

Now comes the best part. Periava asked 'Russians speak their language mixed with Sanskrit, but in Northern Russia do they speak the language without any mix of Sanskrit?' Ribakov was surprised and said 'yes'.Then Periava said, ' you say Russia now. In the ancient times it was known as Rishivarsham. You know why? That is where Rishis like Yagnavalkiyar were running a Vedic Research Center. Then he spoke about the history of Russia at length. Then the Prof said that he wanted to become a Hindu.

Periava said 'you already are'. But the Prof insisted on a Hindu name for him. Periava laughed and said ' he has grey beard like Rishis. So, from now on his name is Rishi'.

Well, that Rishi, runs a branch of Ramakrishna mutt in Moscow now...Let us all remember this great Mahan who lived only for our sake to teach us how we should lead our lives!